Gold saving machine



DeC 12, 1933- D. A. SILVER E1' Al. 1939143 GOLD SAVING MACHINE Filed Nov. 17. 1931 Patented Dec. 12, 1933 V uNlTED STATES ,PAT

ENT f OFFICE GOLD SAVING MACHINE Drayton A. Silver, Goldendale, and Jesse Silver, Tacoma, Wash.

Application November 17, 1931 Serial N0. 575,516

2 Claims. (Cl. 233-28) 1Q tically all of the lines without the expenditure of an undesirable amount of labor or the employment of expensive, cumbersome and heavy machines which it would be diiiicult to transport in rough country where mining operations are commonly performed.

These, and other objects, will become more apparent from the specification following, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan of the device.

20 Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the device.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the line 4-,4 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan showing the gate for withdrawing the Quicksilver.

Fig. 6'is an enlarged sectional View taken along the line 6 6 in Fig. 5.

Similar numbers of reference refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views.

Referringv in detail tothe drawing, there is illustrated a `base 10 upon which is mounted a housing 11 within which is placed a Worm wheel 12 which journals on the upright stub shaft 13 which projects upwardly `from the center ofthe base 10. The hub 14 of the worm wheel 12 passes freely through the opening 15 in the top 16 of the housing 11. On the top 16 rests the bottom 17 of a rotatable disk 18 which is preferably con- 40 cave on its upper side and provided with a plurality of annular concentric riiiles 19, in the grooves 19-A between which may be placed mercury 20. In the center of the top side of the disk 18 is formed a well 21 into which gold-bearing sand ows through-a pipe 22 which receives the sand from a sluice-box 23 in which it has been deposited from the trough 24 above which is mounted a rotary screen 25. The sand and gravel is admitted to the screen 25 through the charging spout 26, and the sand and ne particles of gold pass through the screen 25 into the trough 24, while the gravel and coarse rock are discharged from the end 27.

Rotation is supplied to the screen 25 by an en- 55jw gine 28 which drives a countershaft 29 through as doesthe remainder of the disk 18, and its purthe `pulleys and 31 and the belt 32. On the countershaft 29 is a sprocket 33 whose chain 34 passes around the sprocket on the screen 25.

On the countershaft 29 is also a sprocket 36 whose chain 37 which passes around the sprocket 38 on the worm shaft 39 which journals in the housing 11, and on which is secured a worm 40 which meshes with the wheel 12. Under the outer rim 41 of the disk 18 is a depending ange 42 which causes the over-running water to fall .65

into the collector trough 43 whence it is discharged through the outlet spout 44. The collector trough 43 is stationary and is supported on the standards 45.

In order to permit the withdrawal of all of the mercury from the grooves 19-A there is provided a slidable section 46 which is mounted within a radial groove 47 in the disk 18. The section 46 has the same rililes 19 and grooves 19-A pose is only to provide an outlet for all of the grooves 19-A, as shown inl Fig. 5. This is accomplished by loosening the screws 48 which pass through the slots 49 and allowing the section 46 to slide downwardly. The mercury will now descend into the lowermost groove 19-A whence it can escape through the outlet 50 which is normally closed by a plug 51. Mercury is drawn from the outlet 50 through a spout 52.

The operation of the device is as follows: Gravel and sand containing gold is caused to enter the screen 25 for the purpose of getting rid of the coarser materials, and the sand, together with the gold, passes through the sluicebox 23 into the well 21. It must be understood that a suitable quantity of water must accompany this flow of material, which now overflows the well 21 and is carried outwardly by the centrifugal action of the rotating disk 18 upwardly and outwardly over the succeeding riflles 19, between which it passes through the mercury 20. While in the mercury the material is intermittently subjected to an abrasive action, due to the fact that each time it passes over a rile and falls into the mercury outside of same it follows a circular path until the centrifugal action is again sufficient to carry it over the next riiile above. It is during this portion of the travel that a very desirable action takes place. Not only is each particle of gold brought into forcible contact with the mercury, but it is subjected to a thorough scouring action which removes from the gold any coating which may exist thereon, and which would otherwise render it impossible of amalgamating with the mercury. By varying the` consisting of a rotatabledisk having an upward speed of rotation of the disk 18 a Wide range of degrees in force are applied to the materials passing through the machine, and by actual test ne coated gold was passed through this machine Without being able to find any trace of gold in the sand passing from the outlet spout 44. Under certain conditions it will be found possible to operate this machine successfully without the use of mercury, while in other instances it Will be found necessary to employ mercury as a co1- lecting agent.

While reference has been made exclusively to the recovery of gold it must be'understood that this method and apparatus is usable in the recovery of other precious metals as well.

We are aware that many forms of gold-saving machines have been constructed in the past, and it is therefore not our intention to cover such devices broadly, but we do intend to cover all methods and apparatuses in which the materials are made to pass between and across concentric riiles.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for recovering precious metals and outward sloping top side and having a plu'- rality of annularv grooves concentrically formed around the center thereof, the inner and outer side Walls of said grooves being substantially vertical, means for rotating said disk from the under side thereof, means for discharging materials against the center of the top side of said disk, and means for providing communication between all of said grooves through the vertical walls thereof for clean-up purposes.

2. An apparatus for recovering precious metals consisting of a rotatable disk mounted on a vertical axis having an upwardly and outwardly sloping top side, said sloping top side having a plurality `of annular grooves formed therein, said disk having a well formed around the middle vof the top side thereof, a pipe for discharging materials into said well, and means for rotating said disk from the under side thereof, said disk having a radially slidable section capable of limited movement whereby communication may be established between said grooves for clean-out purposes.

DRAYTON A. SILVER. JESSE W. SILVER. 

